New Trend Report - Effective Business Development for Law Firms: Five Hot Trends in the New Normal©

1. Increasing staff sophistication and specialization - In order to increase results, efficiencies, quality of service and deliverables while at the same time reducing duplication and redundancies, law firms are moving away from hiring marketing/business development support generalists and are now increasingly hiring specialists.
2. Increased turnover in high-level staff positions - Over the past three years, approximately 40% of AmLaw 100 law firms' incumbent chief marketing officers, chief business development officers and chief strategy officers have turned over.
3. Increased strategic focus on what works - The days of being "all things to all people" either externally for clients or internally for lawyers no longer works for the majority of law firms or for law firms' marketing/business development support departments.
4. Increased use of packaging - As the legal industry continues to mature, another viable strategy being used both internally and externally is packaging. Internally law firms are "packaging up" the sales/business development process in various ways designed to increase opportunities, motivation and strategic results.
5. Increasingly sophisticated technology - Content aggregators at both the law firm-generated content level and the business/client intelligence level are continuing to refine their offerings.

To read more, click here.

New Business Development, Revenue-Generating & Cost-Saving Tools and Services

New webinars - Click here to register or see speakers and course descriptions. Our 2013 webinars were highly rated by law firms.

1. How to Control Law Firm Business Development and Marketing Costs & Expenses in 2014 - Wednesday, January 29, 2014 , 12 noon - 2 pm EST
2. "Sales" Pipelines & "Sales" Models Used By Lawyers, Law Firms & Other Professional Services Firms - What Works? - Wednesday, February 19, 2014 -12 Noon - 2 p.m. EST
3. Avoiding Potential Legal & Business Conflicts of Interest When Developing New Clients and New Legal Work - Wednesday, March 12, 2014 , 12 Noon - 1:30 p.m. EDT - an application for 1 ethics CLE credit in the State of New York is currently pending.
4. How To Make the Most of LinkedIn to Build Your Law Practice & Get on More "Short Lists" - Wednesday, April 16, 2014 - 12 Noon-1:30 p.m. EDT
5. What All Lawyers Need to Know and Do Before "Asking for the Work" - Wednesday, May 14, 2014 - 12 Noon - 1:30 p.m. EDT
6. Key Ethical Issues re: Business, Client Development and "Sales" for Lawyers When Communicating With Potential Clients and People Other Than Clients - Wednesday, July 16, 2014 - 12 Noon-1:30 p.m. EDT - An application for 1 ethics CLE credit in the State of New York is currently pending.

Rainmaker Training & Coaching Series for Associates™ - If Associates want business development training and guidance, but your firm does not have time or resources to develop a solid and consistent program, consider our new on-line and on-demand professional and ethical development program designed specifically for Associates.

Mastering the 'Sales' Process for New Partners® - This highly-rated and results-generating training and coaching program has been upgraded to be delivered on-line in a quarterly format, followed-up by an actual, in-person 'pitch' to in-house and/or general counsel who serve as co-instructors.

Rainmaker Re-Fresh™ for Partners - Partners who desire to upgrade the results from their client development efforts and/or increase their origination benefit from this service. Ask for our references.

Business Intelligence Dossier & Briefing™ Service for Lawyers, Practice Groups and/or Law Firms - Creating an in-house department and/or positions designed to generate competitive/business intelligence, gather research, conduct analysis and provide "briefing" for lawyers can be time consuming and expensive. Instead, consider our proven, confidential, secure, outsourced services.

For more information, please contact: Julie Savarino, Julie@BusDevInc.com, telephone (734) 668-7008

Webinar - Key "Sales" Tools All Lawyers Need in Their Toolkits to Develop New Business in 2014

Tuesday, December 17 from 12-2 pm Eastern Time

The market for outside legal services is projected to remain highly competitive for law firms and lawyers in 2014. So, given high billable hour demands, the time and investments lawyers and law firms devote to new business development need to yield a strong ROI (return on investment). Speaking, writing, attending conferences/seminars/events and standard pitch books are no longer enough. To ensure a strong ROI from your current and upcoming new business development efforts, register for this webinar to learn the top, proven 'sales' steps for lawyers and the key 'sales' tools every lawyer needs to have, upgrade or add as part of his or her 'sales' toolkit to efficiently and ethically develop new business in 2014 and beyond. Join Julie Savarino of Business Development Inc. on this webinar to: review an actual, proven and common 'sales' pipeline used by leading lawyers and the key 'tools' associated with each step in the pipeline; learn some of the best ways to identify targets, potential clients and influencers; gain efficient ways and means of preparing for each opportunity; focus on key communications that work best; learn how to set up a personal follow-up system to help ensure results, and increase knowledge of other effective client development and 'sales' tools every lawyer needs at-the-ready to bring in measureable new work in 2014. To register now using PayPal, please click here

To read what recent webinar attendees have to say about the quality of our webinars, please click here.

This webinar will not be available for viewing after the fact, except to those who have registered prior to the start of the webinar.

Business Development Inc.'s 2013 Thanksgiving Message

As a token of appreciation for the support of our clients, colleagues, referral sources and friends, we have made a donation to The Freedom Center which is a non-profit, non-partisan hospitality center located inside the Detroit Airport (DTW) adjacent to Gate 43 that provides service and refreshments to all members of the military, veterans and their families when traveling. The Freedom Center provides plush recliner chairs, a variety of snacks and beverages, access for the wounded, large televisions and power outlets – all small comforts when compared to the endless sacrifices members of the military, veterans and their families have made to protect our freedoms and way of life. Next time you are in/pass through DTW please consider swinging by and making a donation – because The Freedom Center operates 100% on donations (other U.S. airports have USO-supported lounges).

Also, we invite you to participate in our "2014 Referral Appreciation & Give Back Program" as a way that we can all help those in need. Simply recommend Julie Savarino's professional services and/or refer Business Development Inc. to any of your colleagues, co-counsel and/or friends and let us know. If retained, we will make a $100.00 donation to a charity, pro bono effort or cause of your choice.

Wishing you and yours a wonderful holiday season!

Law Firms Struggling with Slow Demand Growth in 2013

What can be done? Read a new article written by Julie Savarino published recently by Bloomberg entitled "What Works to Develop New Business for Law Firms in the New Normal":

http://about.bloomberglaw.com/practitioner-contributions/what-works-to-develop-new-business-for-law-firms-in-the-new-normal/

Two New, Upcoming Webinars for Law Firms

Over 40% of the Am Law 200 and the largest law firms in Canada, as well as law firms from the United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa and South America have registered to attend our webinars and rate them highly. Each webinar includes audience polling questions, the answers to which will help you benchmark your firm versus competitors. Register now! These webinars will not be available to view after the fact, except to those who have registered.

1) New Law Firm Partners: Best Practices in Client and Business Development© webinar - to be held Wednesday, October 9, 2013 from 12 Noon-1:30 pm EDT.

DESCRIPTION: All new Partners face a similar and significant challenge: how to develop a solid, significant and sustainable book of business. Expectations to measurably contribute to the firm's bottom line are high as are standards to gain and maintain equity partner status. Attend this webinar to learn best practices, tips and techniques from three of the country's leading experts - Ralph Savarese, recently named one of The Top 50 Innovators in Big Law by The American Lawyer, Julie Savarino of Business Development Inc., and David Freeman of Freeman Consulting. Webinar topics include: keys for new partners to think about, what works for new partners to effectively develop new legal work, what doesn't; the key elements of a successful business client development program; and how to insure measureable and on-going success. To register now using PayPal, please see the link below.

2) For Law Firms - How to Maximize Your LinkedIn Account to Develop Business© webinar - to be held Wednesday, November 13, 2013 from 12 Noon-1:30 pm EST.

DESCRIPTION: Too many law firms today underutilize the business-development tool that has the greatest potential: LinkedIn. Consider this: The average lawyer today has approximately 324 LinkedIn contacts. That means that even a small firm of 20 lawyers has almost 6,500 LinkedIn contacts. No other platform offers law firms greater access to potential clients and referral sources, but how should lawyers and law firms harness the power of LinkedIn? Speaker Brad Shepard of Kredible and Julie Savarino of Business Development Inc. to answer that question. Kredible helps professionals build their online credibility, and has recently studied the use of LinkedIn among legal professionals, conducting unique eye-tracking research to determine how general and in-house counsels actually use LinkedIn to find outside counsel. Attend this webinar to learn specifics on how you can use LinkedIn to enhance your personal brand, create and build your credibility in the online world, and maximize your business development opportunities. To register now using PayPal, please click here.

A Webinar Not to Be Missed! "How to Create and Use a 'Sales' Pipeline for Lawyers©" Wednesday, September 18, 2013 from 12 Noon-2 pm EDT.

Lawyers interested in developing new business as effectively and efficiently as possible should join Jon Hulak, Director of Business Development, Mintz Levin; Bill Rowe, Director of Business Development, Thompson Coburn; and Julie Savarino, Managing Director, Business Development Inc. on this webinar to learn exactly how to go about creating and using a "sales" pipeline to get new business. This webinar will cover how to: create an effective "sales" pipeline for your law practice, assess/value your clients and contacts, analyze and consider practical examples of outreach strategies, create outreach and added-value communications, stay in touch (and when to do it), embed effective follow-up steps into your practice, and measure progress/results. To register now using PayPal, please click here.
Register now! The webinar registration fee for a “one location, one firm, one office, one view” use is $495.00 USD. This webinar will not be available for viewing after the fact, except to those who have registered. For those who registered for a webinar, but did not view/participate in the live webinar, a link to the webinar and handouts will be emailed afterwards and is also subject to “one location, one firm, one office, one view” use terms of purchase. Registration fees are non-refundable but are transferable within the same firm. These webinars are open to the public but Business Development Inc. retains the right to decline any registration at its own discretion. Once you register, you will receive logistics and log-in information by email. By registering you are agreeing to the purchase terms as stated above. Other webinars are commissioned privately for individual firms, offices, practice groups, industry and/or client teams.
To view other upcoming webinars, please click here.